


How To Make a Deal With The Devil

by inadistantworld



Series: Where They Belong [2]
Category: Sagas of Sundry, Sagas of Sundry: Dread
Genre: Bondage, Choking, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, I probably should have spaced those tags out more the power of friendship is not sex related, M/M, Post-Canon, Resurrection, Rough Sex, The power of friendship, making deals with the devil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 07:27:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12502064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inadistantworld/pseuds/inadistantworld
Summary: Tanner can say Kayden belongs to him as many times as he wants, but Tanner isn't the one who technically has any say. Kayden made a deal with the devil to get him back and there's no escaping that kind of thing, not with just words at least. But Tanner and the others aren't going to just sit back and watch.





	How To Make a Deal With The Devil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cassandraoftroy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandraoftroy/gifts).



> Hey! So uh, I gifted this because it was this person's comment who made me even think about writing a second chapter BUT this is also like...at least half gay porn that isn't exactly vanilla. And we've never had a conversation. So. If this is weird, it's totally allowed to be weird and I will 100% take your username off of it and it's not an issue, I just wanted to say thank you and I'm not really sure how else to do that on here?? Or in general??  
> Second, more plot related, I didn't get to go into it (or anything) much in the last chapter and I meant to touch on it in this one but it didn't really fit anywhere so I guess here, if you care. Tanner was in hell cause of the curse on the land and that he died on the land, not because he was supposed to be there. I could tell you more because I've given it a lot of thought on what he remembers and how and what everyone else thought/thinks, but it's not really that important so I won't.  
> And lastly (I know, I always write so damn much and I'm sorry) preemptive warning, you can tell by the end I'm kind of just wrapping stuff up really quickly. This isn't because I didn't want to write it or didn't love it or anything, I just found myself a little drained after writing this and figured I would write the ending short and sweet. Also guess my favorite supernatural creature.

Kayden had brought Tanner back to life at a great cost, the cost of his own soul to take the place of Tanner’s upon his death. And of course Tanner claimed it wasn’t the devil’s, it was his. That Kayden gave his soul to Tanner and not Satan. But Kayden could also claim to be the King of Ireland. Words didn’t mean shit in the end.

But they didn’t talk about it for the rest of the day. They didn’t talk about much of anything for the rest of the day. They talked about what had happened since Tanner…left. That Sat and Kayden now lived together, that Sat was back in school. Raina and Darby had moved in together closer to their schools but they usually got together once a month at least. They did not go back to the mountain and had no plans to. Kayden explained what had happened that night as simply as possible, he still didn’t like thinking about it.

Tanner never brought up the drugs which surprised Kayden. That had been his whole thing it seemed. But Tanner came back into this world knowing Kayden hadn’t done anything like that. He had feelings that night that Kayden was telling the truth of course, but admitting it was real and Kayden hadn’t done anything was too much for him at the time. He could handle a lot more now.

Tanner asked about his family. They hadn’t been particularly close but they had to know he was…gone. Kayden nodded, said that they had gone to his family’s house the next day and told them there had been an accident on the mountain. Sat had tried to shoulder the blame but Kayden at least took partial credit for it. They all did, though his parents didn’t seem to blame them the way they wanted to be blamed. It had been a nice funeral from what Kayden heard. He couldn’t go. That was the day he started researching.

Tanner avoided asking about that. Kayden had a sneaking suspicion it was because he was still very angry about it. Sat on the other hand had a million questions about it because she was angry.

Sat came home the next day in the afternoon. She came through the door, dropped her keys on the table, and said mockingly, “Honey, I’m home!”

And Tanner and Kayden sheepishly moved into the living room/dining room (there was a couch and coffee table off to the side with a small TV and on the other side was a small table that the four of them—now five again—could eat at when they got together. It was a tight fit, a small home, but it was theirs and they loved it).

“I believe I’m supposed to be the one saying that to you,” Tanner said slowly, trying to tell a joke because what else do you say to your best friend since first grade after you died in front of her a year ago?

Sat just stared though. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at him. And then she looked at Kayden with pure _fear_. “Kayden. Kayden I’m seeing him,” she looked on the verge of tears and in her mind she said over and over _I don’t want to go back to the hospital_. This was a mental break she couldn’t handle. She had been doing so good, she thought she was good now. “Kayden I—”

“He’s here, Sat. He’s home. Tanner is really here,” he said softly. Kayden didn’t do much softly, but this was not the time or place to be an asshole.

And her fear turned to joy and she raised her hand to her mouth and let out a choked sob. And then she shook her head. “No. He can’t be.”

“I am. Look, it’s really me, see,” he held out his wrist to show the crudely carved _1_ , now a dark pink against his pale skin. “I’m really back. Kayden…Kayden found a way.” He looked over at his—his what? Friend? Boyfriend? Lover? Soul-giver? His…Kayden?—and gave him a sad smile.

Sat hugged him tighter than she’d ever hugged anyone. She called Darby and Raina who were of course worried about her mental state but fell silent when they talked to Tanner. Two days. They would come down in two days. They swore it and they did. Two days letter five bodies sat around a table built for four, their tall and lanky friend where he belonged once again.

Things were not perfect of course, life doesn’t exactly return to normal after death or selling one’s soul.

Nights were the hardest part. Everything else was manageable, but getting a full night’s sleep was hard, especially at the beginning. Tanner would wake up in cold sweats, a scream on the tip of his tongue but the most that he could ever let out was a whimper. It would take a moment for him to see Kayden beside him and then it didn’t make sense. He should be at home, down the hall from his parents. He hasn’t seen Kayden in a year since they went camping and…he…drugged them…

And then it would come back. Kayden never drugged them. It was all real. He died. Kayden brought him back. Kayden was here. Beside him. They were both safe, at least for the moment.

And while Tanner would wake up to nightmares that slipped through his fingers before he could even think to try and remember them, Kayden didn’t dream at all. Not that he used to be a frequent dreamer or anything, in fact he didn’t really think of it much until he woke with nothing. There is something wrong about waking up and knowing that there wasn’t a single thought or idea that crossed your mind in the night. It left him feeling hollow and empty and like he was already gone.

But to make a long story a little shorter, Tanner was back. He told his family a bullshit story about how it was because he wanted to travel the world and they wouldn’t let him and he was very sorry and no he didn’t have pictures because his bags had been lost on the plane back. And he returned to school with Sat, an art school where he could focus on his photography again. And the three of them lived together and saw Darby and Raina more regularly. Kayden and Tanner started, well dating was the wrong word because it felt like just hanging out, doing things together, fucking pretty often and being together, but they weren’t doing it with anyone else and when Kayden thought Tanner was asleep he whispered very quietly, “Hey fucker, I love you.” And Tanner, who was not asleep, said, “I love you too, now shut up and go to sleep.” And pulled Kayden closer to him and one could say that was that.

But then again most stories aren’t about the eternal damnation of a soul.

 

Kayden shivered when he heard another click.

“You trying to start a gallery with just pictures of me?” He could hear Tanner’s feet move around the bed and there was another click.

“I want to make sure you can never forget where you belong,” Tanner replied simply. His long fingers were suddenly around Kayden’s cock and he arched his hips off the bed, but Tanner simply stroked it twice and let go again. Kayden could feel another couple drops of precum hitting his stomach and beginning to roll down his side, probably leaving an obvious and shiny trail that would show up in every picture.

“Tanner,” he whined and there was another snap.

“Beautiful,” Tanner whispered.

And Kayden was. His hands were tied above his head in black silk rope, a black blindfold covered his eyes, his body was completely bare to Tanner who was still fully clothed and holding his camera. His cock rested on his stomach, the head was red and leaking and every time Tanner touched it, just to remind Kayden, his jaw fell open and his entire body reacted. The last time Tanner took pictures like these Kayden had a bright red ball gag as well. The contrast was spectacular. And it had been very nice but Tanner wanted to hear him tonight. He wanted to know every word that Kayden moaned, whimpered, and screamed.

“Get to it already,” Kayden demanded. Funny how he still thought it would work, but he liked being kept on the edge. He liked a lot of things Tanner had found out. He liked being put in his place, liked when Tanner made him work for it.

Another picture. Desperation was so clear on every inch of his body and Tanner wanted it immortalized.

“Ask me nicely.”

“Fuck you,” Kayden growled, but his lips turned up in a smile. Tanner snapped another photo. How very Kayden.

“I think you want it the other way around,” Tanner’s finger brushed against Kayden’s hole and his mouth dropped open and he sighed and tried to press against it but Tanner pulled away again. “Ask nicely.”

“Goddammit, please Tanner just fuck me already!”

 _Close enough_. One last picture and then Tanner was unbuttoning his shirt and stepping out of his jeans and soon he and Kayden are both dressed for the occasion.

Kayden’s head turned slightly when he heard the drawer open and there was a little bit of rustling as Tanner grabbed the bottle of lube. And then there was silence again and his heart pounded in his chest as he waited for Tanner to do something, _anything_.

Tanner tweaked one of Kayden’s nipples and he whimpered and pulled at his restraints a little. He was still teasing his nipples when a finger pressed into Kayden. He gasped and rolled his hips into it as best he could and this time Tanner let him, watching Kayden with hungry eyes. He moved his finger slowly and didn’t add a second one until Kayden growled out, “Fuck, Tanner, _do something_.” And then he added a second but didn’t go any faster. The third he gave when Kayden said, “I swear to God if you don’t give me more I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Tanner let his two fingers press into a bundle of nerves he was very familiar with by this point and Kayden cried out. “What can you do Kayden?” Kayden didn’t have the words, he just ground his hips into Tanner’s hand. “You can ask me again, maybe this time a little nicer.”

Kayden’s tongue flicked out and licked his lips and he said, “Tanner please just fuck me already.”

And Tanner figured it was good enough for a third finger.

But Tanner didn’t want to wait much longer either, he really enjoyed getting Kayden all worked up like this but it didn’t fulfill some of the other needs he had. He slipped his fingers out and added some lube to his hand before giving himself a few quick strokes, letting his head tip back and a moan escape his lips. Kayden whined and Tanner knew his whole body was tense and waiting.

He settled between Kayden’s thighs and dragged the tip of his cock along Kayden’s hole. He hadn’t thought fucking without a condom would be that much better but when Kayden suggested they get tested and they came back fine he figured why not. He had been very mistaken about the difference it would make.

He entered Kayden painfully slow, his hands held Kayden’s hips down so he couldn’t try and speed it up at all, and when he finally bottomed out he leaned forward and kissed Kayden hungrily. Kayden’s tongue was in his mouth, sliding along his and tasting him like he never wanted to stop. Tanner pulled almost the whole way out and then back in, slowly. If it had been someone else it might have been teasingly, but this was Tanner and Kayden just wanted to call it sadistic.

Kayden wrapped his legs around Tanner, trying to pull him in harder, faster, just more in general, but couldn’t seem to get the leverage to move him at all.

Tanner, with the advantage of his body being so much longer than Kayden’s, leaned up and kissed the scars on Kayden’s wrist. Two X’s that he had carved with the knife Tanner tried to sterilize. The marks they had made to prove they were real. That Kayden was real. Now the scars were raised and he could feel them against his lips.

Kayden’s body arched underneath him needily. His hands pulled at the rope that tied them to the head of the bed but Tanner just pressed his lips to Kayden’s skin for a moment longer. It was grounding, sometimes Tanner sometimes had a hard time feeling like this was all real, but this was without a doubt happening. He was not trapped, he was here, back with Kayden in ways he dreamt of but never expected. And his skin was salty to the taste and when Tanner ran his tongue along his lips as he pulled back he could feel every ounce of desperation in Kayden’s body from just a small taste.

He almost forgot how slow he was moving until Kayden snapped out, “For fuck’s sake, harder Tanner!”

Tanner refocused on his slow and deliberate pace and smiled as he looked down at Kayden who was crumbling beneath him. “Ask again. Nicer this time.”

“Fuck you.”

Tanner gave him one hard thrust and Kayden moaned loudly. Then he stilled inside of him, not even filling him completely, leaving Kayden almost empty and wanting. “Nicely Kayden. I want you to beg me for it.”

“In your dreams,” he almost spat back. It was half the fun, hell it was half their relationship, neither one wanting to give into the other. Always a power play. A power play that Kayden secretly liked to lose.

Tanner’s fingers just barely ghosted over Kayden’s cock and he just _whimpered_. “Ask me to rough you up. Ask me to mark you. Ask me to fuck you. To make you scream. This is your last chance to ask me nicely and get what you want. Make me believe it.”

Kayden was biting his lip the whole time Tanner was talking and when he finished Kayden’s hips jerked and he just breathed out, “Fu—ah—fuck me Tanner.”

“More.” He thrust into him hard again, just to give him a taste.

And Kayden almost smiled and rolled his hips again now that Tanner was deep inside of him. “Fuck me hard,” his voice was slick and teasing now, as if he was saying _You want more? I’ll give you more._ “Fuck me long and hard and make me scream your name and fill me up just like you know you want to. I don’t want to be able to look in the mirror without seeing you on me, I want everything you can give to me. I want you to fucking take me Tanner, make me yours like you’re dying to.”

It was Tanner’s turn to start to lose his cool now. He slammed into Kayden again, this time starting to take up a rhythm. “You’re already mine,” he growled.

“Yes yes yes oh fuck Tanner,” Kayden’s mouth was red and shiny and his hair was a mess without anything to keep it up and his entire body moved with Tanner. And his voice was so…so victorious.

“Shut up,” Tanner growled, pounding into Kayden harder. He didn’t mean it, not really, he loved hearing Kayden’s voice, but they still both got off on the game. And part of him still wanted to have the last word, to be the winner.

And then Kayden just smirked, his tongue darted out to lick his lips again, and he said, “Make me.”

Tanner’s hand was on Kayden’s throat before he could even think about it. Not hard pressure, not anything major, but enough to make Kayden jolt. Tanner immediately yanked his arm back and Kayden arched up off the bed as if searching for his touch again. Tanner didn’t move at all, buried deep inside who he lovingly and teasingly referred to as his goth prince, and quietly asked, “Green?” Kayden didn’t say Yellow or Red to pause or stop, he didn’t snap twice, but they had never talked about this before. Tanner had never even thought of it, his hand had just moved, and he needed to double check before anything else happened.

“Green green green, fuck don’t stop now,” Kayden just _whined_.

And the pressure was back on his throat in moments and Tanner was fucking into him just the way he liked it. This time though Tanner was focused on his hand and using muscle memory more than anything to fuck Kayden. He was careful, the pressure was deliberate, and he was paying attention for subtle signs that he needed to back off a little. But Kayden didn’t need to know how careful he was being, he didn’t want to know, so Tanner didn’t let him.

“You love this, don’t you?” Kayden’s hands were fists around the rope that tied him to the bed and obviously unable to answer in words let alone complete thoughts, so Tanner just continued. “You’re just so eager to be put in your place. I ask you to be nice and you just have to be an asshole. I ask you to beg and you turn it on me. I give you what you want and you taunt me. But you’re all bark and no bite, Kayden. _Make me_. As if you didn’t think I would. Or maybe you really wanted me to.” He added the barest amount of pressure for a couple seconds and he got what almost sounded like a moan before he pulled back again. “Maybe I should get a video camera next. I want you to see yourself beg for it. I want to see you get hard on watching yourself get put in your place. Underneath me. Tied up. Begging. Desperate. Right where you belong.” His breathing was quick, but not dangerously so, and it was so obvious how close he was. “I’m not even touching your cock and I bet you could cum right now. Look at you. What are you waiting for?”

“You.” It was strained and so good, so on the edge, so wrecked.

“You want my cum in you first?” Kayden managed a pleading moan. “No. You need it. Ask me nicely this time, Kayden. Show me that you know your place.”

“P-please,” he gasped out.

He didn’t pull his hand away, just let the tip of his middle finger gently rub small circles on the side of his throat. A soft gesture in the middle of it all, a little bit to bring him back to Tanner. “Please what?”

“Please cum in me,” Kayden groaned and Tanner could feel him tighten around his cock, bringing him to the edge with Kayden. He came deep inside Kayden, his hand tightening just a little for a brief moment as he brought Kayden with him, making his cock twitch and stripe his chest with cum.

He pulled his hand away and buried his face in the crook of Kayden’s shoulder as he panted. He kissed his neck lazily, his teeth dragging along the skin once or twice and drawing soft gasps and sighs from Kayden as his hands fumbled with the ties above his head to take his arms down.

The second they were free he pulled Tanner down to him, their bodies pressed flush against each other and, as cliché as it is it is also the only way to describe it, they kissed like they were drowning and the other was air. There was desperation, need, a hunger in it. And they were both panting and trying to catch their breath and clinging to the other. And they were both very, very scared. And one of them had a really really bad plan that would take place in less than a week.

 

Sat came home late that night, which was why the two of them took it a little farther than normal because Sat had often groaned and acted very disgusted to hear anything coming from their room, so she probably would have moved out if she’d heard Tanner talk about how much Kayden wanted to be put in his place and fucked. But as much as she griped she didn’t really mind. It was only sex and they were best friends and most importantly _Tanner was alive_.

But sometimes Sat couldn’t trust herself. In the same way Tanner often touched Kayden’s scars to bring him back, to prove that this was real, Sat found herself looking at him to make sure too. She would have touched him, held his hand, rested her hand on his shoulder, rubbed his back, something tactile, but her fears were at their worst in the dead of night. So instead she sometimes would creep silently down the hall and push the door open just a little to see him still there. Still in her house curled around Kayden or wrapped up nicely in Kayden’s arms. And she would breathe a sigh of relief because she had not imagined it. He was really there.

She did this when she came home that night, still in her heavy boots, and when Kayden heard the footsteps outside of his door his eyes opened, his heart pounded in his chest. Was this it? Was this how he went? Should he wake Tanner? But the door opened with the slightest creak and there was Sat.

When she saw his eyes were looking at her she opened her mouth to explain, but shut it quickly, then opened it, then shut it. Caught between explaining and leaving and only making things worse. But Kayden only smiled, the way he could only do here at home in the dead of night when he didn’t feel like being an asshole, and waved her in.

“Come on, get in. We’re both wearing pants, I promise.”

She hesitated for a moment, then bent down and took off her boots, dropped her jacket to the floor, and quickly climbed into bed with the two of them. They slept better than they had in a while that night.

 

Four days later was the biggest storm Kayden had ever witnessed, and he was no stranger to storms. This one though, this one scared him. The clouds were black and the rain came down so heavily it was hard to tell if there were individual drops at all. There seemed to be no break in the thunder. It was as if the sky itself was furious.

“They should just come tomorrow. It’s not worth driving in this weather,” Kayden’s voice didn’t sound nervous, if anything he looked bored. Sat and Tanner were on edge though. Sat was pacing around the room, looking to the door every few seconds, and Tanner was just silently sitting on the couch with him.

“No.” Tanner said it so forcefully, like there was no other option. In bed it would have been hot. Now it just made Kayden search his eyes for a sign of what was going on, but they were dark and distant. It was worrisome to say the least.

“Wouldn’t you rather just go back to our room and see if we can be louder than the storm?” He purred and ran his hand up Tanner’s chest playfully. But Tanner only have him a small smile that Kayden could see the strain behind and Sat didn’t even look like she’d heard. “You’re both being fucking weirder than usual,” he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest but there was an uneasiness building in Kayden that he couldn’t ignore. Something was wrong.

Things didn’t get more normal when Darby and Raina finally arrived. They walked in dripping wet and soaked through to the bone just from the short walk between the car and the door. And when they came inside they were quiet. Raina didn’t go to hug them, in fact she barely made eye contact. Darby just looked around the room, as if inspecting it. Then lifted the bag in her hand, “Brought Chinese.”

The five of them squeezed in at the table, still not quite big enough for all of them but they always made it work. Tonight there was a candle on the center of the table and the various Chinese food was set around it. There were plates in front of everyone to pile on but nobody moved. When Kayden asked about the candle Sat had shrugged and said maybe she wanted to be fancy tonight, like one of those rich fucks down the road, but it sounded off.

“If you all want to fucking act fucking weird then fine,” Kayden finally snapped, ‘but we’ve been through weirder shit than rain before.” Thunder crashed again and Sat grabbed his hand under the table. He immediately felt a little guilty. They were all jumpy now, after everything that had happened of course a storm like this would make them nervous. He didn’t take it back though, he still didn’t think it was worth all this, but he did give her hand a gentle squeeze back.

He reached his other hand out for the dumplings and Tanner snatched it and pulled his to his lips. Tanner pressed a kiss on Kayden’s knuckles, who was shocked into stillness from the sudden movement, and then Kayden felt the soft brush of his breath against his hand as Tanner whispered something.

And the candle flickered out and Kayden plummeted into darkness.

When he opened his eyes again he felt as if he had lost time, like when you blink and then you are waking up from an unexpected nap and reality seems shifted. This transition was not made easier by the fact he was no longer in his house but a very dark room behind a pure white table staring at his friends standing across the room from him.

“Your kind never seem to understand signals, do you?” The voice came from behind him but Kayden couldn’t turn to face it. It was low and the best word to describe it was cracked. Not like a boy going through puberty, not sharp and high and admittedly a little funny, not this was broken. It was shattered. It was the glass windows of a building abandoned for years, or perhaps it was the spider web cracks that ran through old concrete. Maybe it was something else. But Kayden could feel it in his bones and he had to suppress the urge to retch.

Nobody was looking at the being behind Kayden, Tanner was the only one vaguely looking in its direction at all right now, everyone else looked like they were trying to hold onto their lunch too. But Tanner was focused entirely on Kayden. “We knew the storm was a warning, we just didn’t care.”

“Obviously,” the voice drawled, or it would have been called that if it didn’t sound more like dragging a chain along the ground. “What do you want?”

It is not hard to start a ritual to deal with the devil. It is what he wants. He is a businessman at heart, a very good one at that, and very few people ever outdo him. And every one that does only makes him smarter. But once you’ve begun the deal a deal must be made, you can’t back out when you realize you’re going to lose. Which is why it’s so important for him for this to be so terribly easy.

The candle on the table to act as a key to a lock, the food as an offering, joining hands to go into the deal together, and Tanner’s words of power. That was what it took to get them into this place. This was the place of very difficult deals. What Kayden had done was a simple transaction, it was accept or reject, there was no negotiation. This room was for those who wanted more than the usual. But this was also an unwinnable room, the second you sit down with the devil to deal you’ve already lost. Kayden had thought about it, he had read into it, he had almost done it. But people didn’t come out with what they wanted when they came here. So why on earth were all five of them there now?

“What do you want?” The voice demanded.

“I want Kayden’s soul freed.”

The laugh was cold and creaking. It made Kayden’s skin crawl. There was no word for it other than unnatural. “His soul is part of a current contract, you’ll have to wait until it expires.” He said it like a joke, which it was in a way. Kayden’s soul was under contract for eternity, there was no end to his time in hell.

“Tanner,” Kayden whispered, “Tanner what did you do?”

“Yes Tanner, what did you do?”

He lifted his chin defiantly, “I’m here to buy out his contract. You’ll turn ownership to me where I can free his soul as I see fit.”

“You can lay claim to it all you want but it doesn’t make him yours, boy.” Kayden felt something brush his cheek, like heavy smoke that ghosted along but underneath he felt something sharp like glass scratch his cheek. He couldn’t pull away, couldn’t move from his seat, couldn’t stop it from just barely scraping into his skin. “You don’t have anything worth the contract other than your soul, which I can’t take back as per the agreement. But—oh, I see. That’s why you brought them, isn’t it? They’re your bargaining chips.” It laughed again.

Darby scowled and Sat finally looked the thing in what Kayden assumed was its face. “No. We’re here for Kayden, not for you.”

“I’ve got something more worth your time,” Tanner said confidently and the others shifted their gaze from the floor.

“You’re all so eager to ruin yourselves for this one? He’s worthless,” it knocked the air from Kayden’s lungs, but he knew. He’d always known, hadn’t he? “Look at him. Tell me he wouldn’t be on his way to hell without selling his soul? This was his fate, even if I let you free him he’d only come back. It’s where he belongs.”

Tanner did look at Kayden, they all did. Raina spared a smile for him, Darby’s eyes were soft, Sat looked on the verge of tears, and Tanner? Tanner was in love and impressed and astounded and it showed on his face. It wasn’t a look he usually got around Kayden and he wasn’t sure how to handle all of that emotion from all of them directed at him.

Tanner smiled, “He’s an asshole. The whole way through. Just a complete piece of shit most days.” Kayden rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to thank him sarcastically but Tanner kept going. “But he threw himself between the goatman and us the first night in the woods. And the second night he saved everyone so many times, especially after I was gone. Getting them away from that house, taking care of Simon, helping with the ritual. He’s a total dick, but he’s always been putting his friends first. He has always been the first to do something dumb to protect everyone else, even if he had to die for it. He’s an asshole and he’s fucked up and he’s not exactly pure, but he’s good. And you wouldn’t have accepted his soul for mine if you thought you would get him in the end anyways.”

There was a low growl behind him and then, “Then give me something worth him.”

“You’ve seen us,” Tanner looked so strange, Kayden thought. His big glasses and plaid shirt, his kind and gentle looking face, and his hair that just wasn’t suited for hell. And yet, of all of them there, he was the one who looked like he felt most at ease, the most confident. “We may not be the most impressive, but we’re survivors. And most of all we’re dedicated. So how about this for a deal. Give Kayden back, just like you did with me, not only life but no deal will bring him back to hell again, and we won’t come hunt you down for him.” Tanner’s voice was cold and hard as steel.

And suddenly the rest of the group looked very alive and they all looked at the beast behind him. Sat cracked her knuckles, Darby rolled her neck like she was loosening up before a fight, and even Raina looked a little menacing, a little braver than before. It did help that she’d taken up kickboxing over the last year.

Tanner didn’t move at all, he didn’t need anything but the look in his eyes to show how dangerous and serious he was. “You like to make deals because you like to win. We’re willing to go to the ends of the earth—actually considering where we are, farther than that—to keep Kayden. How far are you willing to go? Is he worth the trouble to you? Because he is to me. I love him. And I will make your eternity hell. Even after you take him from me and I’m dead I’ll keep coming for you. So, is Kayden worth all of us committed to destroying you? He’s just one soul, another drop in the bucket for you. But he’s my entire world. So think very hard about what you know about us, what you’ve seen about how far we will go for each other, and then tell me you don’t want to make a deal.”

There was silence for a long time, presumably as it looked them all over. Kayden tried to wiggle his fingers but they remained still on the table in front of him. His black nail polish didn’t look right against such a white table.

“Fine,” it said harshly, “Take him. Have him back. But there’s a condition, my side of the deal. You all leave with your souls, after you die I don’t give a shit where you go anymore, you’re more trouble than you’re worth. And in all honesty, I don’t care what you do in life either. But with the soul you take from me I will take a piece of you. You will pass as human, you will look human, sound human, but you will not be human. I want that title from you. What you do with my condition I don’t care, kill, maim, you could be the biggest heroes the world has ever seen, save the souls of the downtrodden, I don’t care. But you will not be human. Take the soul but leave as something different than you came as. That is the deal.”

They all looked at each other, shrugging and nodding along. Kayden opened his mouth but found his voice was silenced, and even if he could speak they wouldn’t listen.

“Deal.” They said together.

“Now give him back,” Sat demanded.

And it did. When they opened their eyes again they were sitting in the dark room with Chinese food in front of them, now burned black from the ritual. And nothing seemed to be different. In front of Tanner was a piece of paper with what he assumed was Kayden’s blood on it stating the ownership. When he tore it in half it simply vanished.

Tanner, looking a little exhausted, smiled at Kayden and said, “I don’t own you anymore.”

Kayden shook his head, “You owned me long before this, that’s not changing any time soon.”

Which led to groans from around the table.

The storm had gone and now with nothing to eat for dinner they all piled into Darby’s car and went for pizza because all of a sudden Chinese seemed a lot less appealing.

For over a week nothing seemed to be different, though the official loss of being human hung over their heads there didn’t actually seem to be anything new. So when night fell exactly two weeks later and they were sitting outside around a small fire, seemingly called outside which was odd because of how such a deep part of them feared the dark now, they were taken by surprise by the change.

Each one of them dropped forward onto the ground on their hands and knees, crying out in pain as their bodies shifted and cracked and grew. And their fingers—no their claws—dug into the earth as fur sprouted and their clothes ripped and their shoes were torn apart. And in the end five huge wolves stood in their place.

Where Sat had stood there was a wolf with dark fur and dark red streaks in its fur, Darby and Raina had been replaced by wolves with golden fur (though one was broader and bigger than the other’s fur seemed just a little longer). Tanner’s was a deep brown. And beside him was Kayden, whose fur was almost black but in the firelight the purple tint under it was obvious.

And so the pack was born.

At first it was horrible and thankfully only two nights a month, the full moon and the new moon. They couldn’t exactly run around the neighborhood which brought them to some woods nearby, something none of them were comfortable with. And they felt terrible, even when the pain was gone and they could experience the world like never before they would wake the next day and feel sick. But things changed after a few months.

They were closer than friends or even family now, they were a pack. And it didn’t feel right for a while but soon their nights became something to look forward to, an escape from the rest. For so long now, after knowing what they knew, being human didn’t seem to fit anymore, not when they couldn’t relate to anyone else about what had happened. They may have technically been human but even then they only had each other. Now they didn’t have to pretend to be normal anymore, they didn’t have to fake that they were like the rest.

The devil had thought he took their humanity but he had given them something else, something that allowed them to reclaim themselves. And something that gave them the strength they never thought they’d have.

They began shifting more often, spending time in the dark woods together about once a week, sometimes they’d go off alone or in twos or threes if not all together, and it was only a matter of time before they found themselves on the mountain again. It became their regular hunting grounds, back where it all started and now strong enough to take on anything they find, which wasn’t anything supernatural anymore.

Eventually there was a news article about them. A pack of large wolves out there. It was a small article in a small paper but they framed it and hung it in the kitchen. A little while later they framed a second one. Apparently those wolves protected a couple high schoolers from a bear attack.

And Kayden and Tanner were both free from eternal damnation, though Tanner still liked to claim him as often as he could but in other ways now, and the once friends, then family, and now pack lisved relatively normal lives. For werewolves that is.

**Author's Note:**

> Small tidbit I originally had in the first AN (so sorry) but realized it was spoilery.  
> A) I love werewolves as much as Travis does, sometimes maybe more.  
> B) The werewolves had a reason besides me just liking them. Pack dynamics, family, ect of course but mostly it's all about deals and I wanted everyone to come out with their soul and as good people who don't have to ruin the world around them. The only thing I could think of that would be a 'curse' for them without actually being terrible for them was something that they could kind of own and would be a strength for them in the long term. What it really came down to was a petty move of knowing he wasn't going to get what he wanted and didn't want to waste time on it and decided he would take something that they ended up not really wanting in the end anyways.  
> C) Love your friends and cuddle with them


End file.
